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September 13, 2009

To sleep, perchance to scream

Tiny spoke to us in a dream last night. Not her usual meows, maos, prrts and purrs, but in The King's English. Tuck asked what she sounded like. Don't remember a sound. Were her lips moving? More like reading her thoughts.

What did she say? Tuck wanted to know. It all made sense at the time, our inner cat giving expression to what we barely dare think of during waking hours.

All we remember is "I don't know whether we'll have another New Year's together." Anxiety because we lost her brother — our irreplaceable Baby Cakes — unexpectedly late last year and because she has "airway disease" (AKA feline asthma), a constant source of low-level concern. She's had it since kittenhood, although we didn't recognize it as such — thought it was furball-related coughing —till years later when it became severe, and she ended up in the hospital. Since then she's been on medications, adjusted through the years. Currently it's methylprednisolone — our cat's on steroids! — 1/4 pill every other day, Flovent administered by Aerokat inhaler twice a day and Albuterol by inhaler as needed to stop attacks. Needless to say, she hates the inhaler, gives us a dirty look and tries to leave the premises whenever we approach with Aerokat in hand. And yet she forgives us, boundlessly generous in her silky attentiveness and affection. Does some part of her sense we are doing it for her own good? Probably not. We think she just likes us despite our inexplicable behavior.

"Mad as Hell, Not Taking It Anymore," Lucianne captions this thrilling image of "my people," the Tea Partiers, taking their grievances to the seat of national government yesterday. We participated via Twitter and are enjoying the afterglow in the blogosphere, on Fox News and through the LDotters' comments today: "Do you hear us now?" Photo source unknown although it's all over the blogosphere and Twitter.

Comments

Intellectuals in power pose a danger to the freedom that has produced the most successful society the world has ever known. Professionals tend to know so much more about the subject of their profession than most of the people outside that profession that they come to think they know more about everything. This ignorance is what leads to statism. For instance they think the pursuit of profits leads to higher prices when in fact to be successful in business the goal is to have the best quality at the lowest price. That is what brings customers to the door, and volume is what generates profits in the long term. Goverment-run businesses have no incentive to work harder and be more efficient. As an example look at the Post Office. Nice people work there, but there is no incentive to work more efficiently and reduce the cost that customers pay. Ignorance of human nature is why many intellectuals are such a danger.

Back to the dream, is it too much of a stretch to link the talking Tiny's words with anxieties related to implications of Obamacare?

Dear Sissy, I've had similar thoughts, so if you're stretching, you're not the only one. My sweet Princess (just turned 14 last week) was diagnosed with feline diabetes two years ago. It took me awhile to get used to injecting her with insulin, and she was hard to regulate for many months (many cats are), but two years later her diabetes is in remission. She's been completely insulin- and needle-free for 6 months now. For the past year or so, I've monitored her blood sugar levels at home, which allows the vet more appointment time for urgent cases and saves Princess the hassle of being bundled into her carrier every week for a blood test. Like Tiny, she finds health care a bit of a bummer -- still cries a little when I draw blood from her ear tip once a week. But she doesn't miss the insulin shots one iota and she readily forgives me for the once-weekly lancet in the ear tip. The connection with the ObamaCare nightmare for me is threefold: 1) Princess is in remission partly because of insulin glargine, a new type developed in Germany in the early 2000s that requires much less frequent dosing and is reported to have increased the percentage of diabetic cats who go into remission. What happens to pharmaceutical innovations like glargine if Obama gets his way? 2) What is to stop the gummint from rationing veterinary care as well as human medical care? Suppose the vet who diagnosed Princess two years ago had told me that 12-year-old cats (her age at the time) have had good long lives anyway and shouldn't consume precious health care resources? The euthanasia needle for her! 3) Judging from your remarks in an earlier post about Medicare, I'm only a few years younger than you. I found myself thinking a few nights ago when I woke up with what T. S. Eliot called the hoo-hahs that given my age, I could be euthanized under ObamaCare before my younger cats reach the end of their possible life spans. So -- you're far from the only person finding the current administration a waking nightmare.

One good thought about Tiny -- perhaps her gentleman caller, the dashing Earl, has given her a second wind! Bless them both.

She is so ethereally beautiful and, I suspect, quite sweet. Like my stalwart companion, the mighty Sam the Wonder Cat, she has qualities that cannot be described or quantified to outsiders. My hope and prayer is that she is with you and Tuck for many more years filled with love and laughter and the attentions of the handsome Earl Grey. Sam is taking very good care of me as I recuperate from surgery - which my vascular surgeon performed quickly before my healthcare is destroyed!

I find myself too appalled and demoralized by the One to know what to do about the way our country is heading. Hope it is a temporary state!

Our elderly cat just returned from a visit to the sheepish vet who allowed as how she had now lived two years more than her initial predictions, without ANY of the prescribed treatments, meds, etc. Our philosophy with her (now 16) as been not to put her on "human" meds or inflict surgery, etc on her. We have put her on special food to accommodate her aging digestion, despite it costing ten times as much as the regular. But she is happy with us, and we will let her fade out in God's good time. WIthout heroic measures. My one wimpish fond rule is that should she be in pain and cease to enjoy her daily pleasures (tracking the sun on the back of the couch, nuzzling the dog, stealing leftovers form the table, passionately embracing our shoes, and jumping into my arms), I would put her to sleep.

I think a lot depends on what is wrong with the cat, as obviously some conditions can be kept at bay or even cured with treatment (the reason why i would spare no expense on an animal in an accident, broken leg or the like, if we had reasonable assurance they would survive)

But I have seen my former cat (a precious Maine coon I got as a kitten from the Boston pound) suffer in agony during a terrible week when we tried to save her life with high tech vet stuff after an attack by a raccoon. I will never again allow an animal I love to suffer like that.

I never cease to be amazed hearing about TIny's friendship with Earl Grey. Our cats have a love hate relationship with each other and the dog. But they are united in their hatred of outsider cats, and defend their borders ferociously.

I am sure you will enjoy TIny for a long time, way past any predictions of the vet. Cat heaven with you and Tuck!

There must be something in the air. Sam the Wonder Cat now has a new lady friend - a beautiful orange girl who enjoys sunning herself on my back step. I got to observe their chirping regard each for the other whilst I was home recuperating last week! When he wasn't out on the back deck "a courting", he was in the house, on my lap, suffering me to groom his beautiful coat of many colors!

And those of you who have been owned by a Maine Coon know what a chore grooming Sam can be. The complication is that Sam is diabetic and when the illness was coming upon him, his coat became impossibly matted and greasy feeling. That's how I knew he was sick. Now that he's under control, I need to undo the damage to his THREE coats of fur!

Anyone who wants to know how to care for a diabetic kitty - just ask me. I've done extensive research of late. There's even a special litter box for them.